IceStorm app cmd fine, service not

I have a application (c#) that publishes events via icestorm (icebox). The Icebox runs as a service. When I start the app (on windows server 2012) is runs fine under the dos shell (cmd). However, when I run it as a service (it's developed with topshelf, so it is the same app that runs as a service or command shell) it gets stuck whenever a method on the Prx that should publish something. Given it is the same code/compiled exe running as a service or command shell, I'm at loss as to why the IceStorm publishing of events only works in the dos environment, but not as a service (btw, if I disable the publishing method, the entire app runs fine both as a service and in the command shell).